What if Live Free or Twihard
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if it took place Season 1 during Dead Man's Blood?  Chapter 7 of 7 up.
1. The Nest

What if it took place Season 1 during Dead Man's Blood?

John had just finished telling Sam and Dean how the Colt could kill anything supernatural. Even Sam was on board now. "OK, if we get separated, we meet back at that clearing a mile from here."

"Yes, sir," Sam and Dean said.

John wasn't sure exactly when he had started treating his sons as soldiers. He wished he never had, but it was probably too late now.

They went into the vampire nest through the window. John went first, then Sam, with Dean bringing up the rear. John headed to where he thought the alpha male and female would sleep. They would probably have the Colt.

Sam and Dean headed further into the nest, looking for captives. They came upon a woman tied to a beam. Sam stooped down to untie her. Dean continued on a few steps to a cage. There were people inside. "I'm going to get you out," he whispered as he tried to break the lock as quietly as possible. He knew the last thing they wanted to do was wake up a bunch of vampires.

The girl Sam was attempting to free started to wake up. "Shh, shh," he said. "I'm here to help."

She let out a loud growl. Dean looked back. "Sam!" he yelled, as he noticed all the vampires in the hammocks behind him spring to life.

John was just reaching into the coat pocket where he saw the Colt when the ruckus started. The couple in bed sat up. John threw a bottle at the window, letting in a stream of sunlight. He ran out of the room. "Run, boys!" he shouted.

As if they needed to be told, Dean thought. He and Sam were almost to the door at that point. When they had all gotten outside, John said "Scatter."

They each took off in a separate direction with about three vampires chasing each one of them.

SSS

Dean was overtaken by the vampires in a couple of minutes. He hated to admit it, but he was the slowest runner of the group. Sam had those giant sized legs and his dad could just run fast. It was embarrassing.

He wondered why he was bothering with worrying about his speed in the last minutes of his life. Then, he wondered if these _would_ be the last minutes of his life. They might keep him alive to drain him. Or maybe even use him as bait if the others hadn't caught up with Dad and Sammy. He hoped that they hadn't.

"What should we do, Luther?" Bo asked.

"Let's turn him. I've always wanted to turn a hunter," Luther admitted. Hunters were so holier-than-thou. They would turn this one and let him loose. See if the others would hunt him down if they weren't caught.

Luther cut open his arm.

"No," Dean said. "Just kill me." He hated monsters. His father hated monsters. He didn't want to be one.

"Nah," Luther said as he pressed his bleeding arm up against Dean's lips. When the operation was complete the two vampires holding him down let go of him and the trio disappeared back the way they had come.

Dean slowly made his way to his feet. The sun was hurting his eyes. His skin, too. He tried to stay in the shade as much as possible as he made his way to the rendez-vous spot. His father would have to kill him. He couldn't decide if he hoped he and his father made it there before Sam, or if he could get a chance to say good-bye to his brother. Maybe he could say good-bye and then send him off. Yeah, like Sam would actually listen and leave.

SSS

"Dad, we've been here fiifteen minutes already. Dean could be in trouble. We should look for him," Sam said.

John was worried, too, but he always tried to keep that hidden from Sam. "He's fine, Sam."

Just then, Dean came into the clearing, shielding his eyes.

"What's wrong, Dean?" John asked. Sam had been so relieved to see Dean that he hadn't noticed that his brother seemed to be in pain at first.

"They turned me, Dad. You'll have to kill me now." He could hear his father's and brother's heartbeats. He could smell their blood. He was so hungry.

Sam's face was frozen in horror. Kill Dean? How could they do that?

Instead of pulling out his machete, John pulled out his cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked. He wanted to be put out of his misery as soon as possible and his dad was going to order a pizza?

"I'm calling Bobby Singer," John answered.

"Why?" Sam and Dean both asked.

But at that point, Bobby had answered the phone and John directed his conversation to him.

"Bobby, it's John Winchester, don't hang up," he said in a rush.

"What the hell do you want?" Bobby asked. The last time he had seen John was over four years ago when he had kicked Sam out for wanting to go to college. Idgit. Dean had been destroyed by that decision. He had had to choose between his father and his brother, and for some reason that Bobby would never understand, Dean had chosen John.

"I remember you saying something once about a cure for vampirism," John said.

"Yeah, the ingredients are really hard to get, but there's no expiration date, so I have a few batches made up. Is this for you?" Bobby asked, suddenly concerned. John could be a jerk sometimes, but all in all he had been a good friend, and if not father-of-the-year, he did really care about his sons.

"It's Dean," John said.

Sam and Dean were watching this end of the conversation. Sam was hoping and praying that there was a cure. He had just lost Jessica less than a year ago. He couldn't handle losing his brother so soon.

Dean was only watching John talk. He could only make out every few words. Their heartbeats were so loud, he didn't think he would be able to take it much longer.

"Get him here," Bobby said.

"Any warnings before we head out?" John asked.

"The cure has to be administered within one month," Bobby answered. "Other than that, no."

"What if he feeds?" John asked. He was going to try to keep that from happening, but you never know what's going to happen.

"No effect, but you probably shouldn't let him."

"I'm not planning on it. Thanks, Bobby."

"Don't mention it. You know I'd do anything for those boys."

John slapped shut his phone. "Come on," he said.

"Does Bobby have a cure?" Sam asked, anxiously.

"Yes," John said.

"Bobby can cure me?" Dean asked, finally getting the gist of what was going on but hardly daring to believe it.

"Yeah. We'll take the Impala and I'll come back for my truck when we're through," John said. "Give me the keys."

Dean handed over the keys. He was definitely in no shape to drive. When they got to the car Sam went to get in the back seat, his usual position when their father still owned the car. "No, Sammy, I want to lie down in back away from the Sun. You can get in front," Dean said.


	2. A New Life

Dean had fallen asleep a few minutes into the ride. They had found a blanket for him so that he could hide from the light. Sam and John were both wide awake, but weren't talking. Partly because they didn't want to wake Dean up, partly because they were so worried about him, and partly because they were afraid anything they might say might lead to a fight.

John pulled into a gas station. "You have to go to the bathroom?" he asked.

Sam shook his head.

"Good. I do. You pump the gas, I'll take care of business," John said.

They opened the creaky old doors as quietly as they could and John headed inside. Dean woke up and realized he was hungry. Really hungry. Hungrier than he had ever been in his whole life and that was saying a lot. He looked out the car window and saw Sam pumping gas. Maybe Sam would let him…

No! He wasn't going to feed off his brother.

Sam noticed movement in the car. He looked in and met his brother's eyes and gave him a reassuring smile. They would be at Bobby's in a couple of hours and this would all be over.

Dean smiled back at Sam and then he noticed a man coming up behind him. Sam was distracted and apparently didn't hear him. Dean didn't like the look of the man's eyes or the quick way he was moving. He went to yell out to Sam, but before he could the man had a gun jammed into Sam's back.

"Give me the keys," he demanded.

"I don't have them," Sam said. His dad had kept the keys on him when he had gone in to use the bathroom.

Dean got out of the car.

"Stay there," the man warned, shoving the gun further into Sam's back and putting a restraining hand on his shoulder.

Dean growled.

"Dean," Sam whispered.

Dean leapt across the car and knocked the man down. The man's heart was beating a mile a minute. Dean was so hungry, he figured it couldn't hurt to feed off this lowlife. He opened his mouth and his fangs descended.

"Dean!" Sam yelled. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Dean ignored Sam and ripped into the man. John came running out of the station. "Dean! Get off of him!" he yelled.

Luckily the years of training to obey his father instantly hadn't fled him and Dean obeyed. The man was a dead pile of flesh and bones and very little blood.

"In the car, both of you," John ordered. Others were starting to gather. John peeled out of the station before anyone had a chance to get a good description of the car or its occupants.

"What the hell was that, Dean? You just attacked a random guy?" John yelled. "You'll be changed back to human in a couple of hours. You couldn't wait?" John was distressed. That man probably had a family.

"He wasn't some random, innocent guy," Dean said. "He had a gun on Sam."

"Sam?" John asked.

Sam just nodded. He was disturbed by the animal look he had seen in Dean's eyes.

"You still went a bit overboard, don't you think?" John asked.

"Dad, I've been thinking. I've never been so fast or strong. I could really be a great hunter like this. Maybe we shouldn't change me back," Dean proposed.

"What?" Sam asked.

"No, Dean. You're changing back," John said, figuring that would be the last word on the subject.

"We'll see," Dean said, under his breath and went back to sleep.

SSS

"We're here," John announced a couple of hours later.

Dean instantly awoke and got out of the car on the passenger side. Bobby came out with a bottle of some disgusting liquid in his hands.

"Heard you pull up. Figured you want this as fast as possible," Bobby said.

"We sure do," John agreed.

"No. I'm not going back to being human," Dean said. "I'll be a much better hunter this way."

"You'll be what we hunt this way," John argued. "Drink this," he said, taking the bottle from Bobby and approaching Dean with it.

Dean remembered one time when he was nine, he hadn't wanted to take this really disgusting cough medicine. Dad had literally poured it down his throat. He wasn't going to let that happen this time. He grabbed Sam and pulled him back to him looping his arm tightly around his neck.

"Back off, Dad," he said. "I'm not going back."

Sam was finding it difficult to breathe. He grabbed at Dean's arm and tried to pull it off. He couldn't believe how tight the grip was and how immoveable. He gasped for breath.

"Let your brother go, Dean," John said in a low voice.

"No. Give me the keys," Dean countered

"Dean, this is foolish," Bobby said. "You don't want to hurt Sam."

"I don't want to, but I will," Dean said. He wouldn't, though. He loved Sam, but they might think the vampire thing took that away. He hoped that they thought that so he could get the keys and get out of here. He mentally apologized to Sam and pulled back harder, making Sam grunt in pain. "KEYS!"

"OK," John said. He didn't know what to do. He had to at least try to save one son and at this point it looked like Sammy was his best bet. He held the keys out.

"Put them on the hood and go in the house."

John and Bobby slowly backed up until they were in the house. Dean approached the hood, grabbed the keys and backed towards the driver's seat, using Sam as a shield the whole time. He could still see the two of them standing just inside the door watching. He shoved Sam into the car and had him push over into the passenger seat and then knocked his head into the window, knocking him out. Then, he drove out of the salvage yard eager to start his new life.


	3. Dean Hunt

"Let's follow them," John said.

"He'll see us," Bobby answered.

"So?"

"John, that ain't your son. It's not Dean. Not completely. There's a part of Dean in him, a part of him that still loves Sam and wants to protect him. But if we go after him, he might kill Sam. We need to wait, find out where he goes and rescue Sam while Dean is out or sleeping or something."

"What if he kills him before that?" John asked in a panic.

"We'll just have to hope he doesn't."

John huffed and went in the house. They had lost him anyway in the time it took to have that argument.

SSS

Dean had done a hunt on his own a few months before his father had ditched him. He remembered where there was an old deserted cabin in the middle of the woods about fifteen miles from Bobby's place. That would be perfect. It was almost better to hide close to them as they wouldn't be expecting it.

When he got to the edge of the woods he hid the car as best he could and lifted Sam who was still out cold. He loved this new strength. No way he could have ever carried his sasquatch brother yesterday. Not through miles of woods anyway. He held on tightly to Sam and ran through the woods so fast that he covered the five miles to the cabin in five minutes.

He went into the cabin and smiled as he found it just as it was the last time he was here and furnished with everything he could possibly want. Except for food for himself. He frowned. He would not feed off Sam. That would be the number one rule he would set for himself. He was hungry again, though, so he had to do something. He grabbed some rope from the cabin's ample supplies and tied Sam's wrists to the bedposts and headed out to look for dinner for himself. Now that the sun was down, he felt even more powerful than before.

SSS

"How are we supposed to find him?" John asked for the hundredth time, pacing back and forth.

"He'll probably go somewhere at least two states away and someplace familiar. Know anything like that?" Bobby asked. He didn't hold out much hope. In his opinion it didn't seem like John had known either one of his sons very well.

"There was a cabin at a lake in Michigan, I took the boys to a few times. It was in Mary's family for generations and her uncle still owned it or something. I think it got forgotten about and never got sold or something," John said.

"That's probably where he went, then. Let's go," Bobby said.

SSS

Dean found a jogger on the path just outside the woods. A young woman he would be hitting on in normal circumstances. When she passed by him, he leapt out, grabbed her and dragged her back into the woods. She started screaming.

"Shh," Dean said and put his hand over her mouth. "Be quiet."

She struggled against him and Dean got angry. He just wanted a few mouthfuls of blood. He wasn't going to do any permanent damage. What was her problem, anyway? He ignored the struggling and sunk his teeth into her shoulder and took a few deep gulps of blood. He drained her of about the amount she would lose if she donated blood and pushed her to the ground and fled. No harm done, he thought to himself.

SSS

Sam woke up with a vicious headache. He noticed he was tied to a bed and struggled to get his wrists free. He didn't know where he was or where Dean was, but he figured it would be best to get out of there before he came back.

As if the universe could read his mind, Dean came sauntering in at that moment. The area around his mouth was covered with blood. He walked over to Sam and sat next to him on the bed. Dean pulled out a knife. Sam scooted back. For the first time in his life, he was afraid of Dean.

"It's OK, Sam. I won't hurt you. I'm just going to cut the ropes. Don't try anything, though."

Sam nodded. What could he try? He didn't have a machete on him or any dead man's blood, so he was pretty defenseless in this case.

Dean sliced the ropes around Sam's wrists and Sam scooted even further away from him. "What are you going to do to me?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking it would be great if you could be my brother again," Dean said.

"What?" Sam asked. What did that mean?

"We could be vampires together," Dean enthused. "Wouldn't that be great?"

"No, I don't want to," Sam said.

"OK, Sammy. I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to," Dean promised.

"So, I can leave?" Sam asked.

Dean's face darkened. "Why would you want to leave me?" he asked angrily. "You're always leaving me."

Sam didn't know what to say to that. He thought anything he said would only make things worse so he said nothing.

"Answer me!" Dean demanded. He shoved Sam against the wall behind the bed and pushed him so hard that Sam thought he would go through the wall.

"I, I," Sam stuttered and hated himself for it. He was a hunter. He faced supernatural creatures all the time and it wasn't like this was the first time he was captive of one.

Dean softened. "It's OK, Sammy. I know you're just scared, but everything is going to be alright. You believe me, right?"

"Yes," Sam said, because what else could he say? Dean was satisfied and let Sam go.

"Sun's coming up. I'm going to get some sleep. Sam, we're in the middle of the woods. I can smell you for miles. If you try to leave me, I will have to punish you. Understand?"

Sam nodded, defeated. He had seen how fast Dean was, when that robber had threatened him. He would never be able to get away, especially since he didn't even know which way was out of the woods.

"Good boy. What are you going to do all day while I sleep? It would probably be best if you learned to sleep during the day, too."

"I just woke up," Sam pointed out.

"Oh, I know. I meant gradually. Or maybe stay up all day today and tonight, too."

"Maybe," Sam said.

"Oh, before I forget, give me your shoes."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Just some extra insurance that you don't try to leave."

Sam took his shoes off while Dean started a fire in the fireplace. When Dean had gotten a good blaze going, he threw Sam's shoes in. "Now, I think we both feel better don't we?"

"Yeah, Dean," Sam said. Now, he was truly stuck here.


	4. Crime and Punishment

"What did you do all day, Sammy?" Dean asked when he woke up.

Tried to figure a way to get out of here, Sam thought. Several times he had lifted the latch on the door and Dean had woken up. Sam had quickly moved to the table to act like he was reading, so Dean didn't suspect anything, but clearly he was a light sleeper and Sam was not going to be getting a head start. "Reading," he answered out loud.

"Really, because it seemed to me like you were constantly trying to leave," Dean said.

"What? No," Sam said.

"Don't lie to me. I wasn't fooled by your quickly moving to the table act. I was just curious to see how many times you would try. Ten times, Sam. Ten. You must really hate me."

"Dean, I don't hate you," Sam said and it was the truth. He could never hate Dean, but he was terrified of him and right now he just really wanted to get him some help.

"Well, I warned you that I would have to punish you."

"What are you going to do?" Sam asked.

Dean considered. "I'll have to tie you up again for starters. For two days."

That wasn't so bad, Sam thought. It could have been a lot worse. "And I think I'll have to brand you."

"What?" Sam asked.

Many vampires branded their victims, the ones they were going to keep around for a while. Neither Sam or Dean knew this, but when Dean was changed certain vampire traits were imprinted on him like a genetic code.

"You brought this on yourself. Next time, I won't go so easy on you," Dean promised. He led Sam back to the bed and tied him up as he had been before.

He checked the ties. Sam was good at getting knots undone, but Dean was good at tying them. There was no way Sam was breaking free of these. He was sure of that. And that was good, because he was going to use these two days to stock up on some food. He couldn't keep going out, he was going to have to bring a supply of food here. But first, he had to take care of the second part of the punishment. He picked up the fireplace poker, stuck it in the fire that was still burning and pressed it to Sam's arm. Sam screamed.

"Trust me. That hurt me more than it did you. I'll be back in a couple of days," Dean said.

"What?" Sam asked. He was going to leave him alone and tied up. And that definitely had not hurt Dean more than him. "You can't leave me like this for two days."

"You're right," Dean said. There was always the possibility that hikers would come by and Sam would hear them and call for help. He grabbed a clean dish cloth and stuck it in Sam's mouth and then tied it around his head with a belt. "See ya, Sammy. Let this be a lesson to you."

As soon as Dean was out of the door, Sam started struggling against his bonds. But, the more he struggled the tighter they got, so he gave up before his circulation got completely cut off. Plus, the pain in his arm was so great right now, it was all he could think of.

SSS

Dean hefted the bag that he had packed over his shoulder. He watched as a teenage couple made out next to the pond. He walked up to them and punched the boy so that he fell down. The girl started to scream and he hit her over the head. These two would feed him for many days before he had to set them free.

He had wandered fifteen miles from the cabin so that the search would not come that far. At least he hoped it wouldn't. He picked up the girl and carried her and dragged the boy behind him. He couldn't run like that. He might kill the kid. It was going to be a long walk back.

SSS

John and Bobby reached the Campbell cabin. The entered stealthily and searched it. There was no sign that anybody had been there for years.

"Now what?" John raged.

"Good question," Bobby said. Maybe his idea to let them go and then find them wasn't so good after all.

"When was the last time you talked to Dean?" John asked.

"The last time I talked to you," Bobby answered. "Dean's loyal, John. You got a beef with someone, so does Dean. You never noticed that before."

"I was just hoping that he made an exception. He worked a chupacabra case your neck of the woods last summer and I thought maybe he came to see you."

"Wait a minute. I know where that hunt was. I heard about it, but didn't know that Dean was in on it. There's an old deserted cabin up there that hunters have known about for years. I'll bet that's where Dean took Sam."

"So, now we have to go back?" John asked. He hoped this wasn't another wild goose chase.

SSS

"I'm telling you, this cabin has been abandoned for years," Sam heard a man say as the knob twisted and the door opened, revealing two men in their early thirties.

"Well, what do we have here?" one of them asked, seeing Sam.


	5. Fred and Barney

"I'm telling you, this cabin has been abandoned for years," Sam heard a man say as the knob twisted and the door opened, revealing two men in their early thirties.

"Well, what do we have here?" one of them asked, seeing Sam.

"Someone's probably coming back for him. We should leave," said the other one.

"Mmpf," Sam said. He didn't know who these guys were, but if he could get them to untie him, that would be great. He was willing to try to get out of the woods barefoot at this point.

One of the men walked up to him. Sam figured he was going to untie him, but he just thrust his hands in his pockets. "He's got twenty bucks on him."

"Take his gag off," the other one said. He had an idea.

"Please, untie me," Sam said when the gag was out. He was really thirsty. It had been about a day and a half since Dean had left. He was embarrassed when he noticed both of the them wrinkling their noses. He had soiled the sheets, but it was hardly his fault.

"Couple of questions, first, kid. Why are you here?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Someone kidnapped you. Was it for ransom, or are you a hostage from a bank robbery?" He might be worth some money to them.

My brother kidnapped me because he turned into a vampire and has gone crazy. Sam thought that just once, he'd like to totally shock someone with the truth. "My brother kidnapped me because he's mad at my dad." Close enough to the truth.

"Will your dad pay to get you back?"

Sam was about to say that his father didn't have any money, but he thought that maybe if he said yes, they would take him with them. He would have a much easier time escaping from two humans than from one vampire. "Yeah."

"OK. We take him with us. He tells us how to get in touch with his father and we make a trade."

The other man untied Sam's hands from the bed and quickly pulled them behind Sam's back and retied them. He started to reinsert the gag.

"Can I have some water?" Sam asked quickly.

The man gagging him started to refuse, but the other one said, "Let him have it. He's going to have to walk to the edge of the woods to the car. We don't want him passing out on us."

As Sam was drinking, the second man said, "That reminds me, Fred. Where are we going to go? We came here to hide from the cops."

"Don't worry, Barney. I know another place we can go. It's only about twenty miles from here."

Seriously? I'm being kidnapped by Fred and Barney? Sam was almost glad Dean was a vampire, because human Dean would never let him live this down. He was propelled roughly out the door. There were pine needles, rocks, and sticks on the ground and Sam's bare feet felt every one. But his captors pushed him on mercilessly until they reached their car. They shoved him in the trunk and took off.

SSS

Dean arrived back at the cabin with his food supply. He promised himself he would only feed off of them for a little while. When they were in danger of dying, he would let them go.

He opened the door and froze. Sam was gone. He dropped the teenagers and ran, trying to smell which way Sam went. He wasn't a bloodhound, though. He could only smell Sam, he couldn't smell traces of him. He ran to the highway, figuring that's where Sam would have gone. About 50 yards from where he had hidden the Impala he found tire tracks. They didn't go onto the highway, but veered off to the dirt road. All Dean had to do was follow the tracks.

SSS

John and Bobby arrived at the cabin shortly after Dean had left. The two teenagers were beginning to stir. "You guys alright?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah. Some crazy dude knocked us out."

"Think you can make it back home from here?" John asked. He didn't want to have to be responsible for these two. He had to find Sam and Dean.

"Yeah," the guy said and led his girlfriend out. He wanted out of there quick.

"Why would Dean leave his meal behind?" John asked. It felt weird thinking of Dean that way, but it was a fact. Dean was a vampire until they could turn him back.

"You know why vampires mate for life?" Bobby asked.

John didn't know what the point was, but said, "No, why?"

"Because they're obsessive. Most vampires fix their obsession on their mate. But not all of them. Some obsess over children or enemies, or any number of things. I think Dean is obsessed with Sam."

"So, what? Sam escaped and Dean dropped everything to go after him?"

"Yeah, and he'll be mad that Sam left him. He'll expect Sam to have the same devotion to him as he has for Sam."

"What do you think he'll do?" John asked, scared for both his sons. His youngest for obvious reasons and his oldest, because if they managed to turn him back he wouldn't be able to live with himself for hurting Sam.


	6. Rescued?

Fred pulled Sam out of the trunk and pulled his gun out. He pointed it at Sam and directed him into the new cabin.

Sam thought about trying to make a break for it, tied hands or not. He was so sick of being someone's captive, but Barney must have noticed something in his eyes, because he grabbed his arm and pushed him into the cabin. It was Sam's hurt arm and he cried out.

"Shut up!"

There was a support beam in the middle of the room. Barney shoved Sam down in front of him and tied him to it.

"What's your father's phone number?"

Sam gave it to him. His dad could deal with these morons easily. OK, they had gotten him, but he had been tied up in the first place.

Fred pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number.

SSS

John checked his cell phone display when it rang. He and Bobby were still standing in the cabin, trying to figure out where to go from there. He didn't recognize the number, but he answered it. Maybe Sam had got his hands on a phone.

"Sammy?"

"No. But we have him and if you want to see him alive again, we'll need $100,000."

"What?" John had never been so confused in his whole life. "Who are you?"

"You don't need to know that."

"How do I know you have Sam."

Bobby looked up at that. He wondered what was happening.

Fred put the phone on speaker. "Say hi to your father."

"Dad." It was just the one word, but John thought Sam sounded tired and defeated. Then he heard a crash.

Dean had followed the tire tracks and he was now kicking in the door. Sam's eyes went wide when he saw Dean. He leaned his head back on the beam and closed his eyes. He thought maybe he had gotten away. Dad would have been able to rescue him from Fred and Barney.

"Leave my brother alone!" Dean roared.

"What the Hell?" Fred yelled as Dean launched himself at him and took a big bite.

Barney was frozen to the spot, but as soon as Dean straightened up, over the now dead Fred, he snapped into motion. He could see that this guy was too fast and strong for anyone to take on, but he had heard him yell to leave his brother alone. He grabbed his gun, ducked behind Sam and placed the gun to his temple.

"Back off, man!"

John could hear a struggle and yelling, but he had no idea what was going on.

Dean leaped at Barney and knocked him to the floor. The gun discharged, hitting Sam in the arm. He cried out.

"Sam!" John yelled into the phone.

Dean didn't bother feeding, just broke Barney's neck. Then he turned to Sam. He was bleeding. Dean could smell it. He wasn't going to be able to not feed off Sam. It was OK, it would bind them together. He leaned over Sam's wound and took a drink.

"Please, Dean," Sam whispered. If his brother was anywhere in there, he wouldn't hurt him. He couldn't.

"It'll be OK, Sammy," Dean promised.

"Sam!" John yelled into the phone again. He could hear Dean talking, but couldn't quite make out what he was saying.

"Dad!" Sam called back weakly. "Please help me."

"I'm going to help you," Dean said, angry now. He punched Sam across the face. Why was Sam always trying to get away from him? He stomped over to the phone and picked it up. He took it off speaker. "Leave us alone," he hissed into the phone.

"Dean, you need help," John said.

Dean didn't answer, but hung up instead. "Looks like we found a new home, Sammy."

He went and found some bandages and bound up Sam's wound. Sam was actually surprised at how gentle he was being considering the rough treatment he had been receiving from him the last few days.

Sam had a plan. It wasn't a good one, but he didn't have any others. He remembered that Dean had wanted to get turned back until he had fed. Maybe he should let Dean turn him, overpower him and get him to Dad and Bobby somehow.

"Dean, I've been thinking," he started. Once he told Dean there would be no going back. He hoped he was doing the right thing.

"Yeah, Sammy?" Dean asked, when his brother hesitated. He was so tired from the blood loss. Dean liked him weak like this. It reminded him of when Sam was really little.

"I'm ready. I want to be a vampire with you." There he had said it. Hopefully, Dean wouldn't insist upon him eating immediately.

"I don't think so, Sam."

"What?" That was the last response Sam had been expecting.

"If I turn you into a vampire, you'll be strong. Probably stronger than me, since you're bigger. If you try to get away, I won't be able to stop you. You're better off this way. I'll drain you every couple of weeks to keep you docile and I won't even have to keep you tied up." To prove his point, he untied Sam. Sam tried to stand up, but was too wobbly. Between the gunshot wound and Dean's feeding, he was weak. "Let's get you to bed," Dean said and helped Sam over to the bed. He actually tucked him in just like he used to.

SSS

"I just realized I recognized his voice," John said.

"Who?" Bobby asked.

"The guy who kidnapped Sam. His name is Fred Jenkins. He used to be a hunter. That's probably how he knew about the cabin. His sister has another cabin about fifty miles from here. Let's go."


	7. A Time to Heal

Dean left Sam to go hunting. He couldn't just feed off Sam. Sam would get _too_ weak. This was going to be a delicate balance. He wished he hadn't left his other meal behind. They looked like they would have fed him for about a month.

SSS

Sam woke up and realized he was alone. He wished he could leave, but he was just so tired. He didn't even think he would make it to the door. Then the door opened and he knew Dean was back. Dean was scary. So nice and accommodating one minute, so angry and abusive the next. He thought he would prefer it if Dean was just totally mean all the time. At least then he would know what to expect.

"Sammy?" John said.

"Dad," Sam said in relief. His dad would help him.

"Where's Dean?"

"I don't know. I woke up a few minutes ago and he was gone."

"And you didn't try to leave?" Bobby asked.

"I got shot and then he fed off of me. I'm so tired," Sam said. His eyes closed and he fell into unconsciousness again.

The door opened again and this time, Dean stood in the moonlight. He hadn't found anyone out and about. But that was OK. He had had a good meal once today. He could still take his father and Bobby. "Get away from him," Dean said.

John flung a knife at him. It had been dipped in dead man's blood. It was time to get this over with.

"NO!" Dean shouted as he pulled the knife out and fainted to the floor.

John walked up to him and poured the contents of the vial he had been carrying around down his throat. Dean convulsed a few times with a nervous John watching on. He realized that he didn't even know for a fact that this worked. They were just working on hearsay. But then, Dean sat up.

"What happened?" Dean asked. He had the biggest headache ever. Then, he remembered everything. "Sam."

"He's fine, Dean," Bobby said. "We should get everybody back to my place before the cops start investigating missing people."

"You take Sam in your car and I'll take Dean in the Impala," John decided, since both cars were parked out front.

Dean went to get in the car, while John helped Bobby carry Sam out. John didn't like how pale Sam was. He checked his wound and was glad to see that it looked like Dean had removed the bullet. "Keep an eye on him," John said gruffly to Bobby.

SSS

Bobby and Sam made it back to his place first. Sam had woken up when they were a few minutes away. He could tell he was in a car and he looked over to see who was driving. The week he was having, he wouldn't have been surprised if it was Hitler. Bobby was a definite pleasant surprise.

"Where are we?" Sam asked.

"Good. You're awake. I was worried about you. We're a couple miles from my place."

Sam nodded. "Where's Dad?"

"He's on his way with Dean."

"Is Dean still a vampire?" Sam asked.

"No, the cure worked," Bobby said as he pulled into his yard.

"Good."

With Bobby's help Sam was able to make it inside and to the couch. He went back to sleep.

John and Dean showed up a few minutes later.

"He's still sleeping?" John asked, concerned.

"He woke up for a little while and got in here under his own steam," Bobby reported.

"Well, we should probably all go to bed," John commanded.

"I'll sleep down here with Sam," Dean said.

"No, you won't. You'll go upstairs," John said.

"But, Dad."

"John's right," Bobby said. "I don't know what all you've done to that boy for the last week, but you do. You gonna tell me he's not going to freak if he wakes up and the only thing he sees is you?"

Dean hung his head. He remembered tying Sam up. Gagging him. Branding him. Punching him. Drinking his blood. He couldn't believe what he had done. It was his job to protect him. Without another word, he went upstairs.

"Do you think they'll be OK, Bobby?" John asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll be fine," Bobby said just to make John feel better. He didn't know what the next day would bring.

SSS

Sam woke up. He didn't know where he was at first, but then he looked around and recognized Bobby's living room. He hadn't been here in years. Some of the best parts of his childhood were spent here. He was hungry, but it was still dark out. He gingerly got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. He didn't think Bobby would mind if he raided his refrigerator.

Dean came awake when he heard noise coming from downstairs. He wondered if Sam needed help with something. He decided to go downstairs and find out.

"Sam, need help?" Dean asked, when he saw his brother rummaging around in the fridge. Sam jumped and spun around.

"Um, no," Sam said nervously. "I was just hungry. I was looking for something to eat."

"I'll make you something," Dean offered as he approached the refrigerator also.

Sam backed up into the counter, banging his hip against a drawer handle. "Ow," he said.

"You OK?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam said. Intellectually, he knew that Dean wasn't going to hurt him. He was a vampire when he had done all those things to him, but he was still scared of him.

John had heard the noise and came running downstairs. "What's going on?" he asked.

"I was hungry," Sam said.

"I was getting him something to eat," Dean said.

"Dean, why don't you go back to bed and I'll get something for Sam."

Dean knew that tone of voice and it wasn't a suggestion. He went upstairs.

"Sorry, Dad," Sam said, when Dean was gone.

"For what?" John asked.

"Being afraid of Dean."

"It's only natural," John assured him. "Doesn't look like there's much here. PB&J OK?"

"That's fine," Sam said.

"You know we really haven't had a chance to talk. This case is the first time we've been together since you left for college," John said.

"Yeah," Sam said. He wasn't really good with heart to hearts with his father.

"What was Jessica like?" John asked.

Sam looked at him. It wasn't what he was expecting. He was expecting a hunting lecture or something.

"She was beautiful and smart and nice and absolutely amazing," Sam said with a tear creeping into his eye.

"Did you love her?"

Sam just nodded. He was getting choked up. He had been trying not to think about her.

"Sam, I wouldn't have wished that on my worst enemy, much less my son. If I had known…"

"I know, Dad. That's what makes it worse. I did know."

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"I had a vision of it happening."

"A vision?" John asked.

Sam noted the tone of contempt in his father's voice. He should have known better. "Yeah."

"When did they start happening?" John asked.

"I had a few of Jessica a few weeks before. Then, I had a dream about our old house. That's how we ended up in Lawrence that one time. Then I started having visions during the day."

"Well, that's OK," John said. It wasn't, but it wasn't Sam's fault. It had something to do with that demon, but no need to worry Sam over it. "You've finished your sandwich. You should go to bed."

SSS

The next morning, everyone got up and ended up in the kitchen around the same time. "How you feeling Sam?" Bobby asked.

"Pretty good. Still a little weak."

"I'm so sorry, Sam," Dean said. It was his fault Sam was weak.

"It's OK, Dean," Sam said.

"How could it be?" Dean asked.

"No, I mean it. It wasn't your fault. I wasn't expecting you last night and you scared me, but I'm not scared of you now. I'm really not. I know it wasn't you. Vampire you had something in his eyes that's not in yours." It wasn't quite the truth that he wasn't scared of him anymore. But, he would push his feelings down. It's what they always did.

"Well, anything I can do to make up for it," Dean said.

Sam smiled an evil smile.

"I'm so going to regret having said that," Dean said.

John and Bobby laughed. They knew Sam would come up with something creative. John didn't think he'd be around to see what, though. The Colt was still out there and so was the demon. He needed to go after both and he would not risk his sons again.

The End


End file.
